Trump ‘chewed on torn-up documents’, claims ex-aide
Former president Donald Trump would at times chew on torn-up documents, former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman has claimed.
“After [Trump fixer] Michael Cohen left the office and I walked into the Oval, Donald, in my view, was chewing what he had just torn up. It was very bizarre because he is a germophobe, he never puts paper in his mouth,” she said.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar9 February 2022 06:24
Republican lawmaker apologises for ‘kiss my ass’ remark
Congressman Hal Rogers apologised to his Black female Democratic colleague Joyce Beatty for saying she could “kiss my ass” after she asked him to wear a mask.
Ms Beatty, a congresswoman from Ohio, tweeted that she had politely asked Mr Rogers of Kentucky to wear a mask when riding the House train.
“He then poked my back, demanding I get on the train. When I asked him not to touch me, he responded, ‘kiss my ass,’” wrote Ms Beatty, who is chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
In response, the Republican leader released a statement saying he apologised to the Ohio Democrat.
“This afternoon, I met with Congresswoman Beatty to personally apologise. My words were not acceptable and I expressed my regret to her, first and foremost,” he said in a statement.
Eric Garcia has more.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar9 February 2022 05:38
Republican lawmakers threaten to probe GoFundMe
United States lawmakers have threatened to open an investigation into GoFundMe after it removed fundraising for the “Freedom Convoy” from its platform.
“The efforts of government officials to suppress peaceful protest…is an abuse of power,” Senator Ted Cruz told Politico on Tuesday. The Republican leader added: “That abuse of power was compounded when GoFundMe at the explicit behest of the Canadian government tried to effectively steal $10 million (£7.38 million) that had been raised to support the Canadian truckers.”
The crowdfunding platform announced last week that it is freezing millions of dollars raised in support of anti-vaxxer truckers in Canada and will instead refund donors in full.
GoFundMe cited law enforcement as saying “that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity”, explaining its decision to shut down the fundraiser.
“I will work with [Attorney General Ashley Moody] to investigate these deceptive practices — these donors should be given a refund,” Florida governor Ron DeSantis said in a tweet Saturday.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar9 February 2022 04:59
Ron DeSantis plays down feud with Trump
Florida governor Ron DeSantis said rumours that he and former President Donald Trump are at odds are “total bunk” and insisted that he has given the former president his full support.
“Donald Trump’s a friend of mine,” Mr DeSantis said in an interview with FoxNews.com on Monday.
“He is proud when people do well, and it’s not just me, but obviously he’s a Florida resident, and he appreciates the job that we’ve done. He’s told me that many times, not only with helping with the election, but just how we govern the state,” he added.
Graig Graziosi reports.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar9 February 2022 04:33
Top Biden NSC pandemic response official leaving
Joe Biden’s National Security Council on Tuesday announced the impending departure of a member who helped re-establish a pandemic defense office that was shuttered by the Trump administration and folded in to other parts of the NSC.
Dr Beth Cameron will leave in the coming weeks after extending her initial planned 9-month position, the White House first told Axios on Tuesday. Dr Cameron led the Biden administration’s effort to rebuild the Directorate for Global Health Security and Biodefense, and is set to be replaced by USAID’s global malaria coordinator, Raj Panjabi.
“Beth has been an amazing leader, dating back to the transition. She’s smart, effective, and a great colleague. She’ll be missed — but we’re all grateful she extended her timeline and helped identify a strong successor on this crucial account,” a White House official told the news outlet.
John Bowden9 February 2022 04:00
Clinton trolls Trump over documents
Hillary Clinton, who once faced fire from former president Donald Trump for using a personal email account to conduct work business while she was secretary of state, trolled the Republican leader on Twitter.
Ms Clinton, on Monday, tweeted a link to merchandise that was inspired by the tagline “but her emails” — a jab from the former president.
“Take a sip from your new mug as you read the news…,” she wrote, sharing the headline from a news report on Mr Trump’s shredding of documents.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar9 February 2022 03:56
Oversight panel chair vows investigation of document stash
The chair of the House Oversight Committee has vowed to investigate former president Donald Trump’s failure to turn over some documents to the National Archives after leaving the White House.
“I sounded the alarm in December 2020 about the danger that the former President and senior Trump Administration officials were not properly transferring presidential records to the National Archives and unfortunately, we now know that was the case,” Rep Carolyn Maloney told the Washington Post.
She added: “I plan to fully investigate this incident to ensure the law is followed and records from the Trump Administration are with the National Archives where they belong, rather than stashed away in Trump’s golf resorts”.
John Bowden has more.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar9 February 2022 03:36
RNC issues statement blistering media for ‘distorting’ censure of Cheney and Kinzinger
Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel issued a lengthy statement Tuesday evening blaming the media for supposedly distorting the views of Republicans in their reporting on the censure of Reps Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.
After the RNC passed a resolution censuring the two, many news outlets noted with disgust one line in the resolution which referred to “legitimate political discourse” occurring on the day of the attack. News outlets have taken that line as just the latest in a long line of examples of Republicans minimising or outright lying about the events of the Capitol riot.
In her statement, Ms McDaniel asserted that she and other members of the GOP had always condemned the violence of that day, while making no mention of the line in question.
She went on to accuse the January 6 committee, Ms Cheney and Mr Kinzinger included, of targeting Republicans who were not involved in the Capitol riot at all in their pursuit of information regarding Donald Trump’s months-long effort to overturn the 2020 election.
“The January 6 Committee predictably has now vastly exceeded its original purpose and morphed into something else entirely, investigating Republicans who had nothing to do with January 6 for the apparent offense of being Republican. Under the Committee’s approach, almost anything related to the 2020 election is within the scope of its jurisdiction, to include harassing citizens who were not even in Washington, DC that day,” wrote Ms McDaniel.
John Bowden9 February 2022 03:30
House appears on the verge of passing bill to avert shutdown
The House advanced a stopgap spending bill to the full floor on Tuesday as Congress races to pass a short-term spending bill to keep the government funded for another month.
The Senate is expected to approve the bill as well; it’s unclear at this time whether another major fight will ensue over a longer-term bill resulting from partisan demands of GOP lawmakers, as the last shutdown fight saw, given the collapse of negotiations around President Joe Biden’s signature Build Back Better Act. As of now, the House and Senate are addressing few, if any, of the White Houses’ major legislative priorities as an evenly-divided 50-50 Senate frustrates Democrats.
Read more here:
John Bowden9 February 2022 03:00
FBI arrests Jan 6 rioter who stormed Capitol while out on bail for attempted murder charge
The FBI on Tuesday reportedly arrested Matthew Beddingfield, a North Carolina man who was identified as a participant in the Capitol riot while at the time awaiting trial on charges of shooting a 17-year-old.
His arrest was first reported by NBC News. The Independent has reached out to the FBI for comment.
Mr Beddingfield was put on probation after pleading guilty to a lesser charge in relation to the shooting after the January 6 attack, which he reportedly attended with his father.
He was accused in a FBI agent’s affidavit of multiple crimes related to the riot, including attempting to obstruct a session of Congress.
John Bowden9 February 2022 02:30
